Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Florida
Well, here I was. Flying smoothly over the east coast, about 20,000 feet above the ground, bracing myself for my first quest without Percy.
Percy.
My body ached as I thought about him. The last time I had spoken to him was on the dock. He didn't know I was leaving. Silena and Nick were going with me instead. I just couldn't bring myself to ask him to come with me, at least, not until the dumb arrow wore off.
A small part of my brain told me that it wasn't the arrow that had made him do what he had done, but it was dominated by the more comfortable thought that it was the arrow's fault. Hopefully, the arrow would have worn off by the time we got back, which I guessed would be in a week, give or take a day or two.
Stupid Aphrodite. Couldn't she see that we were fine on our own? Sure, we were going slowly, but there was still the time I had kissed him...
Whatever. I turned to Nick, and started to ask him if he had any good fighting techniques. My mouth froze when I saw them.
Silena and Nick were going at it, tongues and all. Horrified, I watched him slowly roam her back, his hands slipping up her shirt.
My mind whipped out of its trance, and I started to thinking about what I could do.
I didn't like Nick anymore than I liked Grover, but... He had asked me to the dance, right? If he didn't like me, than why did he ask me?
Suddenly, it dawned on me. Nick liked Silena, always had. He had asked me to the dance because he knew I was friends with Silena.
I found that I didn't really care. Nick was a nice guy, but I didn't like him. In hindsight, I'm sure I would've done the same. The boy that was sitting near the window quirked an eyebrow, glancing from me to the couple. I glared at him.
The plane landed, and we slipped away from the guards, putting up a glamour.
Silena came over to me after the flight.
She grasped my hands and smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. I don't know what came over me. He just started kissing me, so I went along. It was truly monstrous of me, considering how he asked you to the dance."
When this girl apologized, she didn't slack. It seemed that Aphrodite was also the goddess of guilt-tripping apologies. I shook my head.
"I don't like him. You can have him."
Silena beamed and squeezed my hands. "Oh thank you so much, Annabeth! You are such a good friend!"
Before I could stop her, she leaned over and kissed my cheek, like I was her best girlfriend. A sarcastic laugh escaped my mouth, and I quickly covered it up with a cough.
"Yeah, don't do that," I suggested.
She was too busy glowing and beaming to notice my grumpiness.
Florida was different than New York. It was sunny and dotted with thirty foot tall palm trees. Nick and Silena held hands as we walked out of the airport (we had no luggage) and down the street.
After about an hour of walking, we reached the beach. The blue water stretched out as far as I could see, twinkling in the sunlight. The sand was warm, and was covered in sunbathers.
"Okay, so I heard a rumor that a nymph palace was located in the Gulf of Mexico," I told Silena and Nick.
This is what I needed Percy for. He could breathe underwater. He could tell the sharks not to tear us limb from limb. I quickly shoved the thought away. First we had to solve the problem with breathing. I glanced up. The sun was dipping into the water, painting the surface of the water with golden light. It was too late to do anything about it now.
Across the street, I spotted a motel. I gestured to it.
It was short and squat, covering at least five hundred square feet with different buildings. One stood at the front, a parking lot out in front of it. A few cars littered it, but it was empty.
Twilight loomed over us by the time we got to the door.
I opened the door, and cool air washed over me. A young girl sat at the reception desk, chomping on a piece of gum and reading a magazine.
"Hello?"
"Yeah?"
"We'd like a room."
"Sure. You have to pay for it, you know," she said, eyeing us condescendingly.
The cost of one night was cheap, fifty dollars for one night in a room with twin beds.
"Here," I say, laying the money out in front of her. She eyed it greedily, and counted the bills.
"All set," she said, putting the money into a cash register. "Here's your key. Your room is number 6."
She handed me a square card, while eying Nick uncertainly. The poor girl must think that one of us (or both) was going to hook up with the son of Apollo. Maybe one of would.
I smiled at her, and we left to find our room.
It was spooky, actually. The empty buildings leered over us, daring us to keep walking and see what would happen.
Number six was near the woods. Probably not the best spot for three demigods. It would have to do, though.
A man stood outside our room, fiddling with something that resembled a kazoo. He looked like Percy. Black hair was cut short into a buzz cut, and he had deep sea green eyes. He looked like he just stepped out of the army. Huge muscles bulged under a pastel button up decorated with little mermaids.
He looked up and smiled at me. I looked down at the ground.
As we walked toward the room, he stuffed the kazoo into the back pocket of his jeans.
"Hello, kids." The voice was similar to Poseidon's; loud and powerful, but with a hint of compassion underneath.
"Uh, hi," Nick said nervously, eyeing the man's huge arms.
"You staying the night?"
"Yes, we are," Silena said, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
Nick looked bewildered as he looked from Silena to the man, who was staring at me steadily.
"May I have a word?" he asked.
"Uh, actually I-"
The man grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me away from the other two. Fear overpowered any other feelings, or rational thoughts, that I had.
"What do you want?" I asked harshly, ripping my arm out of his grasp and gripping my dagger.
He studied me.
My thoughts raced. This man had a freakish resemblance to Percy, so they must be related... It's not Poseidon...
"Triton?"
Triton smiled.
"The one and only. I have a message for you. You're Annabeth Chase, right?"
I nodded. "Who's it from?"
"Uh, Percy Jackson."
I blanched. Why was Percy sending me a message? Why didn't he just use an Iris message? "Oh, okay. Thank you."
He gave me a slip of paper. With a smile, he took out the kazoo and blew into it. It morphed into a giant conch shell. Triton had disappeared before the sound had faded.
I took a deep breath.
Try eating a hermit crab. It might help you breathe a little.
I thought about it. Breathe a little... He must have realized that we needed someway to breathe underwater. Thank the gods for Percy. I swallowed and walked into our room, where Nick was pulling the futon in a bed.
I ripped the note into tiny pieces and tossed them into the rubbish bin.
"Okay, let's get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."
...The Next Day...
"Silena, you have to do it."
"No. I won't."
"Just pop it into your mouth and chew. It doesn't even taste like anything."
"Can't we like, roast it or something?"
"You don't roast a hermit crab," I sighed.
Silena refused to even touch the hermit crab, much less eat it.
"If you don't eat it, you'll drown," Nick said from where he was tanning.
"I know that!"
"Then eat it."
"No! There has to be another way."
"None that we know of."
She let out a huge sigh. "Fine. I'll do it."
Daintily, she placed the hermit crab on her tongue and pinched her nose. Slowly, she closed her mouth and chewed. A disgusted look came onto her face, which then turned green.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded and swallowed.
"That... was the worst- tasting thing... ever!"
I patted her back as she gulped out of her water bottle, trying to get rid of the taste.
"I thought it was delicious," Nick volunteered.
"Yuck. I'm never eating crab meat again."
Once she had gotten the taste out of her mouth, we pulled Nick off of the beach.
"Ready?"
They nodded nervously.
Tentatively, we stepped into the water. We took another step, then another. Gradually, the water engulfed our heads.
I held my breath at first. My lungs ached. They were going to burst- I took a deep breath. Water slipped into my mouth and down my throat. I was going to drown.